Shelley Lauten to Step Down

myregion.org President Pursues New Business Venture

Monday, November 26, 2012 11:00 am

With an extreme amount of pride, encouragement and affection, Jacob V. Stuart, President of the Central Florida Partnership, and George W. Walton, P.E., Vice President/Area Manager of Parsons Brinckerhoff and Chair of myregion.org, have announced that Shelley Lauten will step down as President of myregion.org effective December 31, 2012.

"As a Line of Business of the Central Florida Partnership, myregion.org has enjoyed success and recognition at the regional, state, and national levels due in no small part to the efforts of Shelley Lauten," said Jacob Stuart in making the announcement to the Partnership's Board of Directors. "Shelley played a leadership role that was untested and remains unmatched in guiding regional collaboration and has made a name for herself over the last decade as one of the premier experts in this field and for myregion.org as a model for regional development programs."

In advancing her next career step, Ms. Lauten plans to launch a new company beginning in 2013; one focused on civic change and innovation. When her full-time duties and responsibilities as President of myregion.org conclude at the end of this year, Jacob V. Stuart will also assume the role as Interim President of myregion.org.

Beginning in 2013, in her new role, Ms. Lauten will serve as an independent consultant to myregion.org; allowing her to pursue her new business venture, while still maintaining her longstanding "connection" and professional leadership role with myregion.org.

Through the transition and into 2013, George W. Walton, P.E., Chair of the Executive Board of Advisors of myregion.org, will continue in his volunteer leadership role, as will the thirty-seven volunteer members of the Executive Board of Advisors of myregion.org.

"Shelley's leadership has made Central Florida a better place to live, work and play," said Walton. "Her efforts have gained national recognition which, in turn, presented professional growth opportunities. While Shelley will be helping other communities advance, there is no doubt her heart and passion remain here and will continue to be part of our continued excellence."

From its beginning, Shelley Lauten has served myregion.org; first as Project Director, and most recently as President, since the creation of the Central Florida Partnership. Her special service and extraordinary talents have been recognized across the Central Florida Region, across the State of Florida and across the United States. Her work has inspired many and continues to motivate civic, business, and government leaders; encouraging regional cooperation and regional collaboration.

"Speaking for the Board of Directors of the Central Florida Partnership, we are very happy for Shelley as she undertakes the challenge of starting a new business," says Jeffery Q. Jonasen, Chair of the Central Florida Partnership and Partner with Perez, Bruce & Jonasen LLP. "Her leadership of myregion.org and her other work for the Partnership have contributed greatly to our success and provided tangible and significant benefits to the Central Florida region. We are grateful that Shelley will continue to work with us in her new consulting role, and we look forward to collaborating with her on future initiatives for the benefit of our region."

As a point of information, Ms. Lauten first worked with Orlando, Inc. (Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce), as a Lead Consultant on WorkForce 2020. This nationally recognized regional effort produced a powerful and positive partnership with WorkForce Florida and WorkForce Central Florida; and successfully created innovative new ways to engage the business community in support of our state and regional workforce delivery systems. WorkForce 2020 was so successful; it was replicated in five (5) other communities across Florida and in ten (10) cities across the United States.

Following WorkForce 2020, Ms. Lauten was invited to continue her leadership role at Orlando, Inc. (Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce), by helping to develop a new concept of how we could better connect communities across the Central Florida Region. The resulting program was myregion.org, which was launched in 2000, and has enjoyed enormous success over the last twelve (12) years:

The work of myregion.org's"How Shall We Grow?" was used as the foundation of the recently adopted East Central Florida 2060Plan authored by the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council in August of 2011. The goals of this plan are to inform and guide local decision-making in a manner that leads toward the implementation of the Central Florida Regional Vision, a "product" of myregion.org.

"How Shall We Grow?" also resulted in the creation of the Regional Growth Compact, adopted on August 10, 2007. A continual source of inspiration and reference tool for the Central Florida Congress of Regional Leaders , the compact focuses on the 4Cs — Conservation, Countryside, Centers and Corridors.

In August 2010, the Alliance for Regional Stewardship (ARS) and the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) recognized myregion.org as its first recipient of the "Ten Award" for Distinguished Achievement in Sustained Stewardship. The ARS established the "Ten Award" to recognize organizations that demonstrate "ambitious and steadfast advancement of regional stewardship over of a period of at least 10 years."

Most recently in September 2012, myregion.org launched the Central Florida Scorecard; designed to align with the Florida Scorecard, created by the Florida Chamber Foundation. The Central Florida Scorecard is the first of its kind in Florida.

In many ways, Ms. Lauten has served as a "civic architect," helping our "family of communities" learn a new model of civic engagement. Her persistency of focus has helped Central Florida "lead the way" in many ground-breaking "civic solutions," designed to serve the needs of the Twenty-First Century.

Under Ms. Lauten's leadership, the accomplishments of myregion.org are many, but there is more to be done. As a result, Ms. Lauten will continue to work as an independent consultant, engaged with both myregion.org and the Central Florida Partnership on a variety of projects. While her role will be changing, her commitment to Central Florida will not; accordingly, her talents and leadership will continue to serve the Central Florida Region.

myregion.org is one of four lines of business by which the Central Florida Partnership focuses on "Regional Research and Resolves." By identifying and examining the changing demographics and powerful trends that are shaping the Central Florida Region – myregion.org is helping to identify the issues and challenges that affect our future. Working together with Orlando, Inc., (Regional Entrepreneurship), BusinessForce (Public Policy Advocacy), and Leadership Orlando (Regional Leadership), the Central Florida Partnership is moving "Ideas to Results."

About myregion.orgClick here to learn more about myregion.org.Click here for the myregion.org Executive Board of Advisors.